Planting a Legacy 2020

May 16, 2020

Today, 19 MAY 2020, Four Generations of descendants from the Lecklitner / Seager Clan planted 60 trees from the highway to the curve in the lane. We planted them on the 'new' property we purchased to the West side of the lane. And this is only HALF of the trees we are going to plant - the rest have not arrived yet.

What did we plant? Oh my, all kinds. We planted them in two rows, thirty feet apart, staggered. Our hope was to keep the short ones in the closest row to us and the taller ones in the second row. So, we planted Persimmon, Sambucus Black Lace, Celestial Chestnut, Maple Brandywine, Kousa Dogwood, Yoshino Cherry, Princeton Elm, Hornbeam, Black Gum, and Tulip Poplar.

Still to go we have: Royal Purple Smoke, Apple, Magnolia, Paw Paw, Black Tupelo, Peach, Rose of Sharon, Weeping Willow, Red Oak, Sassafras, Scarlet Red Maple, and Dawn Redwood. Those are all in the second order.

It's been told, and I believe it, that prior to the Palm Sunday tornado back in '65, there were 99 Catalpa trees lining the lane. I never saw it, but for more than 30 years I've had the "pleasure" of mowing up and over those old root ball locations. Well, in another 20 years or so when these trees mature, it ought to be a beautiful drive down the lane with all those trees in bloom in the Spring or changing colors in the Fall. It's not exactly the same, but beautiful nonetheless.

We started at 0900 this morning - and a bright, clear, gorgeous morning it was. 65F and cool with a slight breeze. When the sun came out, it eventually made it to 80, but we were done planting before that. We had the oldest generation, Boppum Barb and Pa Jerry, driving the Gator with all the trees. Alex & Eric started planting. Kathy & I took the kids (Will 4 & Hadley 2) to measure out the North end of tree locations as Sandy & I only got the South done last night before it got too dark.

The trees were supposed to be 30' apart (N to S) and 15' across East to West. To accomplish this, I used Math. See kids? It pays to listen in school. Sandy estimated the location of the first tree (starting at the S end, toward the highway). Once she was happy, all the other trees lined up according to my 4-stick method. Stick 1 stayed in the tree location, Stick 2 went 15' N, Stick 3 went 30' N, and Stick 4 went 15' W to mark the second row. I used paracord to tie them all together at the correct length. And to ensure that Stick 4 would remain in the right location, I used ole Pythagoras' theorem. Square root of 15 squared + 15 squared = 21.21'. So the cord between Stick 3 & Stick 4 was 21' 2.5". Trust me, we were NOT near as good as the Romans when they laid out their roads, but you know what? We were close enough. They're Trees for goodness sake.

This all looked great on paper, but once you get 4-year olds and 2-year olds planting the flags, well let's just say they tend to waver a little bit. Not critical. We were not after perfection, only getting trees in the ground. And that we did.

It took right at 3 hours to complete. We then took a break for lunch from the Mulberry Pizza King. And then, the kids (and probably the big kids) went down for a nap.

I suggested that Will and Hadley probably will not remember much of this event. Good thing too as each of them got in trouble for not listening. Tears were shed. Ole Papaw Craig? He just laughed. They were being kids - at that's what kids do. So great memories to last even more generations!